UT-A&M football game to return to Thanksgiving

A&M-Texas football back on ThanksgivingMove to night will allow ESPN to showcase game

Published 6:30 am, Tuesday, February 26, 2008

AUSTIN — Texas and Texas A&M finalized a two-year deal Monday to move their annual football rivalry game back to Thanksgiving beginning next season.

The move will accommodate a national television broadcast by ESPN on Thanksgiving.

This year's game will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin. The 2009 game will be in College Station.

"The conference and ESPN asked us to move the game, and we were glad to oblige," UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds said. "The game had been a great tradition for years on Thanksgiving, and we're pleased that it will again for the next two years."

The last time the two rivals played on Thanksgiving was Nov. 25, 1993 — an 18-9 A&M victory at College Station. Texas has won 40 of the 60 meetings between the schools on Thanksgiving.

With the formation of the Big 12 Conference, the game has been played on the day after Thanksgiving and televised by ABC since 1996.

"I am very excited about playing our Texas game on Thanksgiving night," Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "This tradition-rich rivalry between two great universities deserves this type of exposure."

The two schools have played 114 times in football, the third-longest series in the nation.

The Longhorns hold a 73-36-5 advantage, although the Aggies have won the past two meetings.

ESPN aired the game on Thanksgiving from 1985 through 1988 and from 1991 to 1993.

A&M won all seven games by a combined score of 189-86, and in six of those seasons, A&M won the Southwest Conference title. Including wins in 1984 and 1989, A&M is 9-0 against Texas in games on ESPN.